METHOD: A set of three psychophysics conditions of hearing (critical band spectral estimation, equal loudness hearing curve, and the intensity loudness power law of hearing) is used to estimate the auditory spectrum. The auditory spectrum and all-pole models of the auditory spectrums are computed and analyzed and used in a Gaussian mixture model for an automatic decision.
RESULTS: In the experiments using the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary database, an ACC of 99.56% is obtained for pathology detection, and an ACC of 93.33% is obtained for the pathology classification system. The results of the proposed systems outperform the existing running-speech-based systems.
DISCUSSION: The developed system can effectively be used in voice pathology detection and classification systems, and the proposed features can visually differentiate between normal and pathological samples.
METHODS: A review of the literature with key word and MeSH terms: 'Eye injury', 'Ocular trauma', 'Badminton' 'Shuttlecock' using CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Informit Health Collection databases. Papers were reviewed to assess the circumstances of the injury, patient demographics and clinical data.
RESULTS: 19 studies from 1974 to 2020 from 12 countries reported 378 monocular badminton-related eye injuries from 378 patients with a male-to-female ratio of 2.5:1. A closed globe injury was sustained in 97% of eyes and a shuttlecock responsible for 85% of injuries. Doubles play, the shuttlecock and a lack of eye protection were associated with eye injury.
CONCLUSION: Vision impairment was associated with the majority of badminton-related eye injuries, and doubles play, the shuttlecock and a lack of eye protection were risk factors.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The scoping review will follow Arksey and O'Malley's framework and begin with a literature search using keywords in electronic databases such as PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and PsychINFO, covering the period from January 2013 to December 2022 and limited to English language publications. Four independent reviewers will screen titles and abstracts based on predefined inclusion criteria, followed by full-text review of selected titles. Relevant references cited in the publications will also be examined. A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses flow diagram will be utilised to illustrate the methodology. Data from selected publications will be extracted, analysed, and categorised for further analysis.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The results of the scoping review will provide a comprehensive overview of the barriers and challenges encountered by oncology MDTs over the past decade. These findings will contribute to the existing literature and provide insights into areas that require improvement in the functioning of MDTs in oncology management. The results will be disseminated through publication in a scientific journal, which will help to share the findings with the wider healthcare community and facilitate further research and discussion in this field.
TRIAL REGISTRATION DETAILS: The protocol for this scoping review is registered with Open Science Framework, available at DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/R3Y8U.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: For this bibliometric analysis, an extensive search was carried out on September 25, 2023 using the Scopus database. Pertinent articles in the field were scrutinized after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were evaluated using Vosviewer and Microsoft Excel.
RESULTS: A literature search revealed the initiation of scientific publication in 2008. Significant contributions made by Saudi Arabia, India, and China concerning the number of publications were seen. Similarly, Jazan University from SA was recognized as the leading institute. The Journal of Endodontics was the leading journal, while authors JNR Martins and G Gambarini produced the highest number of papers.
CONCLUSIONS: This bibliometric analysis demonstrated that scientific publications have increased tremendously since 2008. Significant contributions have been made by developing and developed nations. The Journal of Endodontics and Jazan University have been identified as the leading journal and institute.
METHODS: We searched the official websites of the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) Malaysia and three other well-established agencies, online databases of Medline® and EMBASE for guidelines on legislation and regulations of biosimilars. Meanwhile, we extracted the reports of AEs involving biosimilars in Malaysia from the NPRA database and for global AEs from the World Health Organisation VigyLize database. The ClinicalTrials.gov Website by the U.S. National Library of Medicines was the source for data on clinical trials.
RESULTS: Malaysia followed the principles of the European Medicines Agency biosimilar regulations and issued their guideline in 2008. Since then, NPRA has approved 24 biosimilar products and recorded 499 AE reports, of which 43 (8.6%) were serious. NPRA has also approved ten Phase III clinical trials in Malaysia with four trials still ongoing.
CONCLUSION: Malaysia follows a stringent regulatory pathway for the approval of biosimilars enacted by well-established regulatory agencies to maintain the quality, efficacy and safety of biosimilars. Introducing biosimilars to the Malaysian market would improve patients' accessibility to biologic therapies.
METHODS: Firstly, color fundus images from the publicly available database DRIVE were converted from RGB to grayscale. To enhance the contrast of the dark objects (blood vessels) against the background, the dot product of the grayscale image with itself was generated. To rectify the variation in contrast, we used a 5 × 5 window filter on each pixel. Based on 5 regional features, 1 intensity feature and 2 Hessian features per scale using 9 scales, we extracted a total of 24 features. A linear minimum squared error (LMSE) classifier was trained to classify each pixel into a vessel or non-vessel pixel.
RESULTS: The DRIVE dataset provided 20 training and 20 test color fundus images. The proposed algorithm achieves a sensitivity of 72.05% with 94.79% accuracy.
CONCLUSIONS: Our proposed algorithm achieved higher accuracy (0.9206) at the peripapillary region, where the ocular manifestations in the microvasculature due to glaucoma, central retinal vein occlusion, etc. are most obvious. This supports the proposed algorithm as a strong candidate for automated vessel segmentation.
RESULTS: We carried out a survey of 11 FCT/FCDB and 177 peer-reviewed papers describing variation in nutritional composition and dietary function for food crops to identify a comprehensive set of terms to construct a controlled vocabulary. We used this information to generate a Crop Dietary Nutrition Data Framework (CDN-DF), which incorporates controlled vocabularies systematically organized into major classes representing nutritional components and dietary functions. We demonstrate the value of the CDN-DF for comparison of equivalent components between crop species or cultivars, for identifying data gaps and potential for formal meta-analysis. The CDN-DF also enabled us to explore relationships between nutritional components and the functional attributes of food.
CONCLUSION: We have generated a structured crop dietary nutrition data framework, which is generally applicable to the collation and comparison of data relevant to crop researchers, breeders, and other stakeholders, and will facilitate dialogue with nutritionists. It is currently guiding the establishment of a more robust formal ontology. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.
METHODS: Incidence of malignancy after cohort enrollment was evaluated. Factors associated with development of hematological and nonhematological malignancy were analyzed using competing risk regression and survival time using Kaplan-Meier.
RESULTS: Of 7455 patients, 107 patients (1%) developed a malignancy: 34 (0.5%) hematological [0.08 per 100 person-years (/100PY)] and 73 (1%) nonhematological (0.17/100PY). Of the hematological malignancies, non-Hodgkin lymphoma was predominant (n = 26, 76%): immunoblastic (n = 6, 18%), Burkitt (n = 5, 15%), diffuse large B-cell (n = 5, 15%), and unspecified (n = 10, 30%). Others include central nervous system lymphoma (n = 7, 21%) and myelodysplastic syndrome (n = 1, 3%). Nonhematological malignancies were mostly Kaposi sarcoma (n = 12, 16%) and cervical cancer (n = 10, 14%). Risk factors for hematological malignancy included age >50 vs. ≤30 years [subhazard ratio (SHR) = 6.48, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.79 to 23.43] and being from a high-income vs. a lower-middle-income country (SHR = 3.97, 95% CI: 1.45 to 10.84). Risk was reduced with CD4 351-500 cells/µL (SHR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.74) and CD4 >500 cells/µL (SHR = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.78), compared to CD4 ≤200 cells/µL. Similar risk factors were seen for nonhematological malignancy, with prior AIDS diagnosis showing a weak association. Patients diagnosed with a hematological malignancy had shorter survival time compared to patients diagnosed with a nonhematological malignancy.
CONCLUSIONS: Nonhematological malignancies were common but non-Hodgkin lymphoma was more predominant in our cohort. PLHIV from high-income countries were more likely to be diagnosed, indicating a potential underdiagnosis of cancer in low-income settings.
METHODS: HIV+ patients from the Australian HIV Observational Database (AHOD) and the TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database (TAHOD) meeting specific criteria were included. In these analyses Asian and Caucasian status were defined by cohort. Factors associated with a low CD4:CD8 ratio (cutoff <0.2) prior to ART commencement, and with achieving a normal CD4:CD8 ratio (>1) at 12 and 24 months post ART commencement were assessed using logistic regression.
RESULTS: There were 591 patients from AHOD and 2,620 patients from TAHOD who met the inclusion criteria. TAHOD patients had a significantly (P<0.001) lower odds of having a baseline (prior to ART initiation) CD4:CD8 ratio greater than 0.2. After 12 months of ART, AHOD patients were more than twice as likely to achieve a normal CD4:CD8 ratio compared to TAHOD patients (15% versus 6%). However, after adjustment for confounding factors there was no significant difference between cohorts in the odds of achieving a CD4:CD8 ratio >1 (P=0.475).
CONCLUSIONS: We found a significantly lower CD4:CD8 ratio prior to commencing ART in TAHOD compared to AHOD even after adjusting for confounders. However, after adjustment, there was no significant difference between the cohorts in odds of achieving normal ratio. Baseline CD4+ and CD8+ counts seem to be the main driver for this difference between these two populations.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to identify the factors that have had a significant impact on mobility in recent years and currently, and to identify gaps in our understanding of these factors. The study aims to highlight areas where further research is needed and where new and effective solutions are required.
METHODS: The PRISMA methodology was used to conduct a scoping review in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Papers published from 2007 to 2021 were searched in November 2021. Of these, 52 papers were selected from the initial 788 outputs for the final analysis.
RESULTS: The final selected papers were analyzed, and the key determinants were found to be environmental, physical, cognitive, and psychosocial, which confirms the findings of previous studies. One new determinant is technological. New and effective solutions lie in understanding the interactions between different determinants of mobility, addressing environmental factors, and exploring opportunities in the context of emerging technologies, such as the integration of smart home technologies, design of accessible and age-friendly public spaces, development of policies and regulations, and exploration of innovative financing models to support the integration of assistive technologies into the lives of seniors.
CONCLUSION: For an effective and comprehensive solution to support senior mobility, the determinants cannot be solved separately. Physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and technological determinants can often be perceived as the cause/motivation for mobility. Further research on these determinants can help to arrive at solutions for environmental determinants, which, in turn, will help improve mobility. Future studies should investigate financial aspects, especially since many technological solutions are expensive and not commonly available, which limits their use.
METHODS: Drowning mortality data of 61 countries were extracted from the World Health Organization Mortality Database. We calculated the percentage change (PC) in age-standardized drowning mortality rates and percentage of drowning deaths reported with unspecified codes between 2004 and 2005 and 2014-2015.
RESULTS: Of the 61 countries studied, 50 exhibited a reduction in drowning mortality rates from 2004 to 2005 to 2014-2015. Additionally, five countries-Lithuania, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, and El Salvador-with a high mortality rate in 2004-2005 (> 40 deaths per 100,000) showed improvement (PC 40%) exhibited a marked reduction (PC
DESIGN: This is a retrospective analysis of women with ST-elevation MI (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI) from 18 hospitals across Malaysia using the Malaysian National Cardiovascular Database registry-acute coronary syndrome (NCVD-ACS).
PARTICIPANTS: Women patients diagnosed with acute MI from year 2006 to 2013 were identified and divided into young (age ≤ 45, n=292) and older women (age >45, n=5580).
PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Comparison of demographics, clinical characteristics and in-hospital management was performed between young and older women. In-hospital and 30-day all-cause mortality were examined.
RESULTS: Young women (mean age 39±4.68) made up 5% of women with MI and were predominantly of Malay ethnicities (53.8%). They have a higher tendency to present as STEMI compared with older women. Young women have significantly higher rates of family history of premature coronary artery disease (CAD) (20.5% vs 7.8% p<0.0001). The prevalence of risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia was high in both groups. The primary reperfusion strategy was thrombolysis with no significant differences observed in the choice of intervention for both groups. Other than aspirin, rates of prescriptions for evidence-based medications were similar with >80% prescribed statins and aspirin. The all-cause mortality rates of young women were lower for both in-hospital and 30 days, especially in those with STEMI with adjusted mortality ratio to the older group, was 1:9.84.
CONCLUSION: Young women with MI were over-represented by Malays and those with a family history of premature CAD. Preventive measures are needed to reduce cardiovascular risks in young women. Although in-hospital management was similar, short-term mortality outcomes favoured young compared with older women.